Thursday, May 10, 2007

The Herald's Apology

The Nassau Herald ran a very reasonable, well-written and conciliatory Publisher's Note this week, in response to the hateful anti-Orthodox ads run by the ALPS campaign. I ask you to please read the whole piece here, but this is the part I feel I must repost:

We knew some of you might be offended by the ads, but in the end, we thought you should read what the candidates had written and decide for yourself what message they meant to convey. Better to be offended now than surprised later that you've voted for a bigot.

In hindsight, the breadth and depth of outrage that so many of you have expressed make us question the wisdom of our decision. We spoke to dozens of loyal readers who were deeply offended by these ads and our decision to run them. They made their points eloquently, forcefully and, for the most part, civilly. We clearly underestimated the depth of emotion the use of the word Orthodox would stir up. If the Herald is to continue to be the primary public forum in the Five Towns, we must distinguish between words that provoke people to think and respond and those that are so offensive that people simply tune out and stop reading. Based on the responses we received, we made the wrong call here.

I agree completely. I am glad to know the true feelings of the ALPS candidates, and I would rather know the way they feel now, than elect a bigot. I prefer to have seen these ads to having not seen them, but I do think the right way to have done this was to run them with an editor's note disavowing the pointedly divisive tone of the ads.

In any event, kudos to the Herald for owning up to what they feel was a bad call, explaining how that decision came about, and apologizing for any offense caused.

Too bad the candidates who had the bad judgment to create and submit these ads in the first place couldn't squelch their stubbornness and try to muster up the same humility, conciliatory feeling, and goodwill to District 15 residents they so offended as the Herald.

161 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Orthomom, I usually agree with you on almost everything - but this apology seems far from sincere. It looks like an attempt not to lose advertisers or readers. Substitute the word "Negro" or "Negro-lover" for Orthodox and you have a Klan ad. The bigotry is deeply rooted and a mere apology in my eyes is insufficient. How about asking the Nassau Herald attend a bigotry workshop or seminar. At this point, there is no question in my mind that had these three candidates and the editor who signed off on the bigoted ads been born white protestants in the south in the early 1900's - they would have been bigoted klansmen. Had they been born a decade later in Germany as Germans - they would have been ardent Nazis. Bigotry is bigotry no matter how you slice it. Politics and media edotorialship are a responsibility. Both have failed miserably here. I humbly suggest that a workshop be arranged where these individuals could here from victims of bigotry in all forms. Whether the victims be Moslems, Catholics, Hasidic Jews, orthodox Jews, blacks, or Rastafarians. It must be rooted out.

I think an apology and explanation is enough from the Herald. They are right about one thing for sure, I am happy to have seen the ads.

I am also waiting for the candidats to apologize. But I guess they ascribe to the Al Sharpton school of political strategy. did you catch hin do the same thing about Romney that our ALPS candidates are doing?

yea the herald did right. I respect them. If you substituted the word blacks for orthodox and law and order for ethics Rev Al would have been here in a heart beat. The ethics word was a slur implying orthodaox people are unethical.P.s. did the herald say the word bigot ?

"Should the Lawrence Public School District Be Run By an Orthodox Majority?"

What this is saying to me, is that the writers of the ad, and the candidates, don't think that there are even a half dozen Orthodox Jews in the entire school district who are capable of running the district in an appropriate fashion.

Now, if the ad said that "The Orthodox guys on the board suck", that would be okay. Not that it matters, since none of them are up for re-election this year.

If it said "The guys that are running are out to screw you", that would be all right, also.

But to say that there aren't ANY Orthodox residents who can successfully run the district, I find offensive.

How about teaching your kids? Can they be trusted with that? Are we going to start searching through the LTA for Orthodox teachers? Weeding them out like commies in the old days?

My parents heard about the ads and threw their "ALPS" lawn sign in the trash.

so let me understand, the majority of the Lawrence Public School District Board of Education is not orthodox?

Don't be wilfully blind. No one is taking issue with the factual proposition implicit in the ad that the majority of the board is in fact orthodox. It's the sentiment that's problematic. Your defense of the ad would also apply to an ad that said "should a black be running for President?" or "should a woman be representing us in Congress?" The implicit factual propositions in both of those ads are equally true, but again THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE. It's the sentiment that the fact that these baord members are orthodox disqualifies them from any participation in the process. It's exactly that sentiment that got the orthodox involved in SD 15 politics in the first place. Although it's quite depressing that this sentiment still exists, thank you ALPS for the reminder.

10:42 anonwhy do you think the candidates will or should apologize, in their wayard minds they just played cards-you know the religion card and trumped it with that statement from greenbaum about the race card-time they thew away their decks- they are obviously marked on the wrong side.

Anonymous said...Substitute the word "Negro" or "Negro-lover" for Orthodox and you have a Klan ad.

Great idea! Hmm... "NegroMom." Yup, that's offensive, too.

Spin this as much as you want, the facts remain: Orthodox Jews make up the majority of the board. They are, so to speak, an Orthodox majority.

I think the fact that the best the private school candidates can do is to claim that the public school candidates are using the "O Word" (are you kidding me?) shows how little the private school candidates actually have to offer. If they did have something to offer, they wouldn't be making up scandals.

If orthomom does not have to apologize for people calling other people bigots and ugly, why should the Herald apologize. A board members editorial compared public school parents to persians up against queen esther, where is our apology, perhaps today will be our day.

Substitute the words "Private School Majority" and all is well. But ALPS had an agenda, because, in the 5Towns in 2007 it is apparent to ALPS and its candidates, that if you are "Orthodox" you are a threat to Non-Private School advocates.

This is not the community that I chose as an orthodox person to grow up in almost 30 years ago, and this is not the community that I want my choldren to grow up in, so please for the sake of the children, GROW UP ALPS.

anon 6:55amFirst of all I don't believe anon said pam was a bigot- the richners are the ones that said it is true in the Nassau Herald this week- second of all I am sure that if someone did call pam ugly- they did not mean it as a physical attribute,because who would really care about that- but along the lines of confirming that she is a bigot as The nassau herald published this week and meaning it from the inside- you know it would be like telling your friend that the the nassau herald said this week said that Pams feelings for the orthodox are just plain ugly- it was actually just a kinder word than saying bigot-

Come on folks! Get real! The apology from the Nassau Herald is all about the money!They risked losing advertising at The Jewish Star ( a Richner publication)Do you think they would have apologized a few years ago before The Jewish Star?

I think the fact that the best the private school candidates can do is to claim that the public school candidates are using the "O Word" (are you kidding me?) shows how little the private school candidates actually have to offer. If they did have something to offer, they wouldn't be making up scandals.

I think the fact that the Herals endorsed them (after saying last year that they don't think Private School parents BELONG on teh board at all) shows that the private school candidates have a lot more to offer than you are trying to suggest.

I think the fact that the best the private school candidates can do is to claim that the public school candidates are using the "O Word" (are you kidding me?) shows how little the private school candidates actually have to offer. If they did have something to offer, they wouldn't be making up scandals.

People, this is the problem. The ALPS folks would rather acts like children on a playground than communicate like adults. Anyone with a brain and basic reading skills knows that no has any problem with the "o word". We are fine with the word orthodox. But no one ever claimed that that was the problem. So rather than repeat and repeat the same explanations to you while you sit there with your fingers in your ears, shaking you head yelling "I'm not listening," let me tell you this:

Get used to the words "orthodox majority.". You're going to be hearing those words for a long, long time.

Issues: Continued low scores,three years running on states needs improvement list but Greenbaum gives teachers and Fitzsimmons contracts and extensions. Issues: Last year with low scores,weak mentoring program and buildiongs that need monitooring Fitzsimmons and Co.(Greenbaum, Kopilow, etc) start in on Transportation and followup with an attack on Kulanu. Issues: Asher's Bd restores homework centers, weekend school, 4 teachers, universal preK, finishes auditorium in Hgh School before schedule and brings business acumen to business repairs( Kaufman is a recognized expert). Issues: Ashers Bd. moves to evaluation and improvement rather than simply apologizing and agreeing with state of schools and education:Issues...Greenbaum offers no plans or initiatives to make system better, Mansdorf and Bd want to bring in consultant ,and will, to improve scores and achievement. Now the BIGGIE...Under Mansdorf and new Bd administration announces scores will go up. No issues ALPS? I do not think so.Issue is direction, vision and courage to make system better.

If Don Imus would have used the same remarks and comments used by the ALPS candidates about blacks ,the Reverend Al Sharpton would have marched and Imus would be FIRED!.Why is it the acceptable for them to be used when describing JEWS? Anti semetic comments are racism and must be condemmed in the strongest possible terms by all.Why the double standard?

By the way, I led a tour of Tel Shiloh this morning for Reisheet Yerushalayim program at Bet Shemesh and one of the boys said he was from the 5Towns and so I asked if he read OrthoMom and knew of the PG business and lo and behold! he did. He told me he had even voted and was concerned at possible Orthodox apathy.

I believe that Marcus is a better candidate than Canciellere(sp?) It appears that he has no hidden agenda and is sincere in his stated goals. This is not to say that his opponent is not sincere, but she just strikes me as not ready for the seat at this time.

I also believe that Levey is a far better candidate than Blisko. Levey seems very sincere in his stated goals. Yes, I have seen the outbursts, but I admire his passion. He has no other dog in this race than improving the public schools.

(as a side note, I believe he has far more objectivity than Kaufman - it's apples and oranges. His wife has been a teacher in LPS for many years and by all accounts is among the finest of teachers - teachers are pretty protected by NYS education law. There is no reason he couldnt recuse himself from a vote on contracts).

Now the race against Greenbaum and Sussman I find unfortunate (wish Levey was running for Sussman's seat).

Sussman and Foreman are the most detrimental to this BOE. Sussman is a politician first. IMO, he is disengenuous. He was the President of the board during its worst reign and somehow manages to escape any accountability. The Teflon Trustee.

Foreman has made it abundantly clear he has no interest is the safety and well-being of the children in public school.

Hatten appears to not toe the party line. He looks at an issue and votes from his head. I believe he is an asset to the community.

i believe Mansdorf started off coming from a good place, but somehow got tainted along the way.

In effect, it seems that we have 2 political parties. ALPS and the Orthodox (sorry if that is offensive) I know that not everyone ascribes to the "party" rhetoric. I know there are more people out there like me, who look at each person individually. I just there were more, or we were able to be more vocal.

Nobody seems to remember that this IS about the children.

Please don't cast your vote because a candidate does or doesn't pray the same way you do.

I'm so sick of ALPS sympathizers always claiming "let's remember, it's about the children". Give me a break. When test scores were plummeting for years, where was the concern about the children?. It was overshadowed by "let's remember, it's about our salaries and benefits.".

When the Orthodox got sick of paying for the continued mismanagement and the cuts to the minimal services they already received, they decided to get involved.

Rather than accept the any responsibility for the situation, ALPS found an easy scapegoat. That's what's behind this mess.

When the Orthodox got sick of paying for the continued mismanagement and the cuts to the minimal services they already received, they decided to get involved-

Let's not be naive, The Orthodox, like myself, simply don't want to pay taxes for services we don't use. I don't doubt that there is mismanagement of service in SD15, as in every other district in the country, and I don't mind paying for busing and books which the district provides to us. In my case, however, I don't see any choice but to pay, it's the law. I pay for Social Security even though by the time I retire I doubt SS will still exist. Taxes are just there. We pay them (and complain about them). It is my choice to send my children to Private School. I could send them to Public School but choose not to.

The only solution to this dispute is to CLEAN HOUSE. With the history of the current school board there is no way the children of the Five Towns can get a fair shot at an education, be them private or public school kids. The only way to solve this problem is with a completely new school board who understands that each and every member of the school board is there with the best interests of ALL the children in the community. The current board has lost sight of their purpose when it became an issue of us and them. DO NOT VOTE FOR INCUMBENTS. Elect an entire new board so our children will benefit, and learn from our example.

I'm orthodox, and I disagree. I don't resent paying for services I don't use. I pay ridiculous amounts for health insurance I hope to never need, and life insurance....let's not go there. It's to everyone's benefit to have a strong public school system. Public school kids will be sharing the world with our kids, and it can only benefit this country if they are well educated, well informed and so on. Not to mention I like my kids to have nice friends to play with on the block, and a great public school district can only help my property values.That said, I don't believe the solution to every problem in this district is to throw more money at it. A great board can find creative ways to improve and excel in a more controlled manner.

Let me get this straight. We have two incumbents. One endorsed by all three papers ,Sussman< and the other supported by the organization that put the most offensive ad in the Herald. You say do not vote for either. Seems like that is the Alps party line.How about Greenbaum resigns, sort of like Imus and then no one votes for incumbents.

The protests to the Nassau Herald about publishing the ALPS ad is just another example of the hypocrisy of the selective free speech advocates. Ms. Greenbaum's legal proceeding to uncover the identities of those who she alleges defamed her on this website is met with screams of free speech abridgment. But protests against the publication of a perfectly legitimate ad by some of those same so-called free speech advocates slam the Nassau Herald publisher for daring to print it. Those hypocrites aought to live in a country more suitable to their bizarre view of freedom. As far as playing the religious card, Orthomom is much better at it than the ALPS candidates ever were.

The protests to the Nassau Herald about publishing the ALPS ad is just another example of the hypocrisy of the selective free speech advocates. Ms. Greenbaum's legal proceeding to uncover the identities of those who she alleges defamed her on this website is met with screams of free speech abridgment. But protests against the publication of a perfectly legitimate ad by some of those same so-called free speech advocates slam the Nassau Herald publisher for daring to print it. Those hypocrites aought to live in a country more suitable to their bizarre view of freedom. As far as playing the religious card, Orthomom is much better at it than the ALPS candidates ever were.

No one is suing ALPS for printing the ads, genius. We're fighting speech with speech. That's the American way.

2:54 PM commenter: I would take 10,000 people like you any day. When I see homes and buildings come off the tax rolls because of religious education, shul, etc., I don't cringe. I believe in living neighbor-by-neighbor and helping each other.

If the Orthodox are against bigotry, why not open their schools and Little Leagues to ALL children. On the one hand they want to be known as Orthodox, yet when someone calls them by the name they associate with, that person is anti-semitic?? I dont get it.

I ellicit everyone in the town to sign their kids up for the orthodox schools and little leagues and see if the orthodox are going to stand by their anti-bigot public stance, and let the kids play. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!!

No problem. If that is what you want. But any child that attends yeshiva must abide by the yeshiva rules. Eat kosher, keep shabbat, boys wear kippah and tzizzit, girls only wear tzinuit skirts or dresses (and in some schools unifroms). Be prepared to spend 1/2 of the day learning Judaic studies, oh and tution exceeds $10k per kid. It is private school after all.

Well here is a bit of information that I just found out. I don't know if everyone is aware or not, but it seems the Greenbaums own many, many, many of the co-ops in the neighborhood and have a vested interest in the outcome of the election, obviously because of their fiancial investment. So their concerns about the current and future school board will definitely affect their buys and sells.

It is also pretty tacky that signs supporting Pamela is planted visibly on the lawn of 285/284 central avenue, when no other co-op building would detract from the beauty of their property nor presume that they represent the feelings or opinions of ALL the people in their building.

Mr. Greenbaum as member of the Board, approved the posting of the signs for his wife and obviously not the other side. This is not equitable and fair, and it usurps the power of the board, because it is used for personal advancement and not for the benefit of the co-op. Shame on you Pamela and shame on your husband for such a low level game, using your wealth and power and ignoring the feelings and opinions of your neighbors.

Is that the type of person we want on our School Board? One who is only thinking about her own agenda and not the agenda of the entire community? YOU have both showed your true colors. You will use your power only for your own gains. If you can't play fair in the election, we know you won't play fair on the board, just like your husband.

Yeah, it is also on the corner of of Cenral and Rockaway Turnpike. There are three ugly signs, planed right at the corner so all can see. It really ruins the look of the garden. How tacky and shameful that the owners in the building especially those who have no kids, many elderly people have to be subjected to these nasty posters when they look out their windows or go out for a stroll.

So the elderly in this neighborhood have no rights. They have no children in school, they have to pay school taxes beside, and if you own more apartments than they do, their opinions don't count. That's nice.

I have always been of the opion that if you give someone enough rope to hang themselves with eventually they will. I think this proves my point. Pamela, you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. The game is up, you have shown your true colors. It is no longer about education and it probably never was. You have played your trump card and it backfired. Anyone who will support an out and out bigot is declaring WWIII in the community. Anyone who is making this about their prejudices, likes and dislikes instead of what is best for our children, is doing a disservice to their children's health and well being, because you are taking them backwards in time and they will never forgive you for it. Bigotry, prejudice and anti-semitism in any form, and any one who practices it on any lieve is a very bad role model for the children of this community and should not have any influence over our children whatsoever. G-d help us if our childen learn from her. I beg you all to think about that.

I have just returned from Inwood republican club- Mr. Mistero and his "guys" have already delivered all over Inwood the pam, levey, and maribel posters as well as sample ballots. If you don't think mistero, who is dean skelos campaign manager has a vested interest in this election, think again. I hope everyone calls Senator skelos. Obviously he does not need any support in the five towns.I will be posting this message often.

Mr. Mistero has backed Greenbaum for the last four years. He may be Skelos' campaign manager but he has to think of local politics and the Sanitary District. In spite of the negative publicity the flyer his people gave out as they left the Inwood Republican headquarters Friday Nite said " Stop the Current Orthodox Controlled Board from Dismantling our Public Schools" I have the flyer they handed out. That is right, the Republicans are backing the attack on the "Orthodox " Board. Remember that when any Republican tells you what they really believe. Begin by asking them if Mr. Mistero is still the Executive Leader of Inwood and mr. Skelos' campaign manager.

The Democrats do not seem to be backing the bigotry. Kudos to Skelos but isn't there a hierarchy in the Republican Party? If Skelos wanted Mistero to stop then the sign for Greenbaum would not be in front of the Inwood Republican Party. I guess it just was not that important to Senator Skelos.

Got the flyer that came from Republican headquarters. It absolutely says the Orthodox Controlled Board. This is a hate and lie flyer. The schools are not being dismantled and the "Orthodox" Board did not make any of the cuts.

I have no problem with the Republicans of inwood sticking together. They obviously have no problem with the bigotry of the ads in the Herald. Last I heard Skelos is a Republican. Mistero is a Sanitation Comissioner under Kate Murray who is a Republican. I have no problem with Rerpublicans sticking together to back the likes of Greenbauma and the anti Orthodox these of the campaign. I just wont forget, that's all. Maybe it will be another 50 years till another Gulotta.

Why is it ok for the NY Times to refer to District 15's School Board as an orthodox controlled board and then in the local papers it is called bigotry?? Make up your mind!!!And for your information, Jesse Mistero the Republican Leader for the Inwood/North Lawrence Republican Party is NOT a Sanitary Commisioner of District One.

Never said Sanitary Commisioner of District One. Just Sanitary Commissioner. You can check it out. By the way, maybe you think the ad was okay. Obviously Mistero did. Guess that means Skelos was not too serious about it either. That is was previous bloggers must have ment when they said it was about CYA(not my words, theirs). Bottom line is that Mistero represents Murray and especially Skelos and he has shown how he believes. No problem.

Asher's Bd restores homework centers, weekend school, 4 teachers, universal preK, finishes auditorium in Hgh School before schedule and brings business acumen to business repairs( Kaufman is a recognized expert).-Restored for at risk children, only 10-20% of students, the rest are on their own-The 4 teachers are State mandated special Ed teachers Certainly not Asher's Idea-Universal Pre-K is a joke, nobody cared if the Orthos had it in the first place and even the old board didn't object to it-Michael Hatten took offense to the auditorium still being closed and took the reigns on that, but like everything else, I am sure Asher will say that it was all him too.Kaufman is a recognized expert in what, all of the Orthodox I know tell me he is a schlock builder, who are you kidding.

to anon 9:43A leopard never changes his spots. The message mistero and greenbaum have for the residents of the five towns is the same- You can read about it in the Nassau Herald- AS a life long republican I can assure you that I will never vote for a local republican candidate again.I am ashamed mistero gave out lie aand hate literature-"Dismantling our schools"- come on now!I must assume skelos is involved as well.

How many remember the princeton plan-remember the big school board meetings when many of pams supporters did not want to send their kids to #2 school? i wonder if that is what she meant when she was quoted in the nassau herald about the "race card" Obviously Jesse mistero feels that Inwood is just a paycheck to him to align himself with three people that the nassau herald described as "BIGOTS"

I had dinner last night with a few public school parents, and it got very loud. We are all very angry about the ads. We are sorry that the private school parents are offended, but we want you to understand that these were not the idea of most of us, and no one showed them to us or asked us to approve them. There is a group of activists who are running the show and many of us have come to feel that they are losing sight of the kids in their push for a big battle. the fact that last year the Herald said that private school parents should never be on the board at all and this year they endorsed the private school candidates shows how much the ALPS campaign has lost their way.

The decision to vote down the budget is a very big mistake, according to me and many of my fellow parents. I will be voting for the budget, even if I feel there should have been a bigger increase. I would like to have seen more room for growth, but I can't see a scenario in which it would be better for my kids to be on austerty again. The reasoning is truly stupid, and all of my friends I met with agreed that it was nothing short of vengeful.

We also all agreed that Pamela has lost her way as a public school advocate. She lost our vote when she stopped dedicating her energy to our kids and instead started dedicating it to this sad harmful war. There are obviously people who think that the war with the Orthodox is the same as helping our kids, but many of us disagree. the time has come to bury the hatchet if we can. I see reasonable people on this site who sont seem to want to screw our kids.

Can't we work together?

Vote yes on budget.Vote no on Pam.Vote yes on Marcus.Vote yes on Levey.

He was on board when the reserves were spent down. He also was on board when Fitzsimons and the LTA contract was voted on. He was also on board when grades were dropping in the district. He was also on board when our HS auditorium, roof leaks, etc. was going on - and did nothing. Michael Hatten, a new guy on board, saved the day.

Sussman is no better than PG in my eyes. Wish there was a third person or that I had a better choice.

10:28, agreed.But there isn't. And Sussman is the lesser of the two evils. Pam wants to chase the Orthodox off the board at ANY cost. Even if I agreed having private school parents on the board isn't always synonymous with looking out for all public school kids best interests, I don't want to bring it all crashing down just to acheive that goal.

so now greenbaums camp is telling everyone who is on the fence with the Sussman/greenbaum choice to not vote for either so sussman does't get too many default votes from the alps ticket from people who are fed up with the greenbaum antics and hate campaign?

maybe mistero has a short memory or maybe he has a similiar aganda as Pam- but sussman was there for Inwood and helped us get the#2 bond when greenbaum and her friends were not. Sussman also instituted weighting in the elem schools which helped #2 get extra services.

I sit here and I read all of these threads. The only ones that really move me are those that take into account the needs of the all of the children in this District. The real issues here are how can we improve education in this district. This is not just an issue for the Public Schools but also for the Private Schools. As it becomes more competitive for admission into good Colleges our children are going to suffer because we can not put aside these asinine petty differences to promote programs that are going give all children the necessary tools to compete. As a college professor on the faculties of a major Medical School and a local undergraduate college where I teach, I and my colleagues have a rather unique perspective on your children. We see them all, graduates from both public and private schools, and I will tell you we are not impressed. Overall, the general quality of Long Island graduates has dropped and our children who used to have no problems getting into top schools nationwide are now finding it dificult to compete. So now these so-called top-tier students who used to go off the island for a college education stay and apply to local colleges. This makes the local colleges more competitive for the middle tier studients who used to have no problems getting into many of the local colleges, such as Hofstra, StonyBrook, etc, and those students wind up going to the community colleges until such time as they can compete. Does this mean that the students that my colleagues and I see at the local 4 year colleges are exceptional? No, as I said we are totally underwhelmed. We have students who can not do simple math without a calculator, or can not write a well structured sentence, let alone a cogent essay. Somewhere along the way since the time I went to school all those years ago things have gone terribly wrong. And this is not just an issue with the public schools but we see this in students who have come out of the private schools as well, and yes that includes the Yeshivas. Be afraid, be very afraid that your kid is not going to get into that college he or she wants to. I call this the dumbing of America. For some time now we seem to have a National preoccupation with striving towards mediocrity and I simply do not understand it. What I do understand is that the strongest, most competitive students come out of districts where all parents, public and private, work together to improve the educational oppurtunities for all children in the district. This is best achieved by a coalition of public and private school parents who put aside this petty nonsense. In the end, the children are better off, and the district gets a reputation for being top notch. If you want to break it down to simple economic issues, just think about what that does for your property values. As it stands now, our district is getting a reputation and it's not a good one and it is going to affect everyone. We as parents have got to find the time to work together to fix this. We all find excuses not to do do what we should, not to go to Board meetings, not to meet with our kids teachers, not to vote, etc. And I am just as guilty as everyone else. I actually entertained thoughts earlier in the year of running for the School Board as an Independent. Well it is too late now and for that I am truly sorry. So now we have got to look to the future and we have got togther and form a group that is foremost going to have the best interests of all children in District 15. Otherwise, our children are going to pay the price.

Agree with getting together but I have to wonder what Mistero, the republicans, ALPS and the LTA have in common. Got to be money and jobs. I hear Mistero wants the Independent Coach (Inwood) contract to be renewed without a bid.hewlett works with independent Coach and just bid out their contract for the summer and next year.Understand they are lobbying the Bd to give a two year contract, close to twenty million without a bid. from the sanitary district and the old AB Bridge we know how jobs and money make the Inwood Republicans click. LTA has been yelling more more more forever. Pam wants to replace the "18 million" with new tax money. SAhe has never, never criticized the teachers, she only wants more. There is that connection. We know how ALPS feels about the Orthodox. Thus the hate mongering.Mistero is dirty, passing out the same literature as was in the Herald.

I am really in agreement with most of the above. There is an unholy alliance for control and jobs. But not even Mistero could think he can force the Board to give Independent Coach a two extension without an RFP and a sealed bid. If this was a bad decision than why is Hewlett going out to bid? The Republicans are looking for alot more than a bus contract. he struck an alliance with the local PTAs to protect the Sanitary District last year, and is also looking for more part time jobs with full time benefits in the school system.This is not a fact written in stone but I'm told there are about 100 part time jobs in the School System with full time benfits that cost tens of thousands.The republicans can sense more.

I think the above blogger meant a two year extension. I did see the notice from Hewlett for bids for their transportation contract. But one question.has Andy Parise weighed in on the hate campaign? Mistero and he are related.

I've just read the ad for Marcus and Co. It says "This election will decide...a school budget that will not cut services or programs" does it mean that those candidates support or oppose the cuts. I am confused.

Andy Parise has been silent on the school board issue - he really has nothing to do with it.

Mistero likes CONTROL. Independent Coach is a BIG contributor to his club and to the Republican Club. Most, if not all the bus drivers are members of his club, or the fire department, or the sanitation. He "finds" people jobs, but you must turn around and contribute time and money to his organization. Same with the schools.

It definitely is racketering. By the way, he's SHAKING IN HIS SHOES about the last week's Herald, Skelos's remarks and the position he is in with the ALPS and school board election.

anon 3:42 and others-1- Yes andy parise weighed in on school board- He gave alps his clubhouse to hold meetings until he got too much grief over it 2- Pam and stanley asked at the last board of ed meeting why we are not just extending Independents contract, while Hewlett bid it out 3) Mistero is not shaking in his boots. He doesn't give a #@*& what skelos thinks, last night at his clubhouse he had his "guys" delivering posters door to door for greenbaum, levey and the other one which said stop the current ORTHODOX board from dismantling the public schools- hate and lies. I wonder if this classifies as hate mail under the law?

did anyone see todays newsday article about Federal authorities reviewing voting records in Nassau county from non citizens?- Awhile back pam broughtup during board of ed meetings that she thought we should allow non citzens to vote- even if it is against the law(this is a fact, I'm not joking)Maybe she was planning her campaign?

Anonymous said... Asher's Bd restores homework centers, weekend school, 4 teachers, universal preK, finishes auditorium in Hgh School before schedule and brings business acumen to business repairs( Kaufman is a recognized expert).-Restored for at risk children, only 10-20% of students, the rest are on their own-The 4 teachers are State mandated special Ed teachers Certainly not Asher's Idea-Universal Pre-K is a joke, nobody cared if the Orthos had it in the first place and even the old board didn't object to it-Michael Hatten took offense to the auditorium still being closed and took the reigns on that, but like everything else, I am sure Asher will say that it was all him too.Kaufman is a recognized expert in what, all of the Orthodox I know tell me he is a schlock builder, who are you kidding.

3:31 AM

Asher never said he CAME UP with the ideas, he just finally implemented things that needed to be done. What does that say for the board who NEGLECTED to get things done. By the way other things were mentioned in Ahser's article which you didn't bring in here, such as the wasted 10's of thousands of dollars worth of equipment that was bought but never distributed only to be found in a closet to be deemed obsolete. Wasted money, mine and yours. Yes tens of thousands of dollars over and over again, of wasted funds and misused funds that could have gone and should have gone to maintaining the building and helping YOUR kids. Why aren't YOU complaining about that. The ORTHODOX Jews had nothing to do with that. WE know how to manage money!!!

10:28, agreed.But there isn't. And Sussman is the lesser of the two evils. Pam wants to chase the Orthodox off the board at ANY cost. Even if I agreed having private school parents on the board isn't always synonymous with looking out for all public school kids best interests, I don't want to bring it all crashing down just to acheive that goal.

10:34 AM

Open your eyes, it has gone past the school board issue, she has bared her teeth and Pam's would like nothing more than pushing the Orthodox Jews out of the neighborhood altoghether. Look how people have heated up right here on these blogs and even at meetings. How many people have said "if you don't like what WE do, move out of the neighborhood".

Open your eyes, neighbors and see just how far her hatred and bigotry has developed and spread. Death threats, and hate mail.....trying to sue Google to shut the mouths of anyone who disagrees with her or tells the truth about her...come on neighbors, big careful to whom you allow power and control.

To those anons arguing what the current board has/has not accomplished:

How about this - as far as I'm concerned, there is a real choice to be made between two fundamental options:

1) Elect the ALPS slate, thus re-instating a public majority with its clear and stated hateful message.

2) Maintain the non-public / majority which certainly has implemented some improvements within the district.

Let's analyze this distinction for a moment: At worst, the current board is not as competent as one might like, BUT, I absolutely believe that there is no intent to do harm to either segment of the community. At best, left to pursue their jobs under the BOE charter/ethical codes (and yes, there is no reason not to monitor this closely), they can probably significantly better the district. From what I see in prior comments within this thread, at least one of last year's non-public elected members has garnered public school parents' respect.

Prior (public school controlled) boards have an established record of a) not being able to pass a budget (this is much less a matter of money than it is one of trust; personally I didn't care that much about the increases, but I was afraid what long term contracts and other absurd spending would be put in place) and b) acting in ways counter to the public's vote; to wit, the lame-duck spiteful LTA contract. Still makes my blood boil.

I don't know any of the candidates other than David and Pam. That vote is clear; and for the others, I simply have to vote "party line" because I'm afraid of the gains a vengeful board might dismantle.

In any event; should the post-vote board continue to have a non-public majority, they must at the least a) clean up the still existing financial obfuscation and present a completely transparent budget to the public, and b) reach out to reasonable leaders within the public school sector for the betterment of our entire community.

How about once there is a 6-1 majoriry on the board in favor of the Orthodox candidates as most likely will be the cae come Wednesday---set up a public school parent advisory committee of people with children in the schools but who do not have union or contract agendas to promote.

No it isn't this is about one group of people who have a personal vendetta, and another group of people who want to do what's best for ALL the children in the neighborhood, because the Shcool board represents ALL the children and we don't care if their, black, chinese, Jew or gentile. We don't care if they go to Woodmere Academy or they go to a Jewish Orthodox or Catholic Private School. All the Children in the Neighborhood deserve the same opportunities. And if there is something that the board can offer such as busing, or special ed, to help get them to school or help them succeed at school, then we should back the board and not fight them on it.

It's ludicrous to ignore the facts and information provided about the mismanagement of funds and overspending. It is ridiculous to bury your heads in the sand and turn the board back over to people who will waste your money and keep raising the budget, keep pulling money out of your pocket that could be going towards you kids college funds, or maybe even a family vacation and spend it on their own "raises", unauthorized dinners, equipment that never gets used, and so forth, bids that can be jobbed out to for reasonable contractors, etc.

How do you justify that? If this was your private business you would have fired everyone and their brother, you would demand accountability and would have somene's head on the chopping block for spending YOUR money so irresponsibly.

One day many years ago the Monroe,NY Fire department closed down several unlicensed Orthodox(hassidim in this case) pre schools due to a lack of proper permits. The very next day the yeshivas closed for the day and sent the children,9000 in all to the public schools to enroll. Suffice to say the Monroe,NY Fire Department never bothered another school ever again and instead the school district asked if there was anything the yeshivas needed.One day this could happen in the Five Towns,we can just show up and demand buildings,teachers and an education. I would suggest the school districts work with us.

I agree we should all register our kids, and then we should all apply for jobs in the district because there are plenty licensed and qualified teachers who actually live right here in the district who need jobs and could benefit from working for this very same school board for which their children attend school.

Then we should all bid on the new equipment the school board will have to buy to cover all the new students, and then bid on all the new furniture they will have to buy to accomodate them as well. Then we should vote in a new accounting firm to audit the new spending and monitor the influx of budgetary needs, and then we should all have a board meeting to take bids on new school bus companies since more buses will be needed, since a lot of kids were walking or car pooling because of the early morning prayer schedules. And I forgot, do the Public School kids get monitors to ride the bus with them????

WE should definitely register ALL of our children in public school, and then give them religious school training in the afternoons. We would save on tuitions and would have a more equitable say in where our tax dollars are spent. That is what THEY want isn't it? That is what THEY are saying isn't it? That we are not one of them. They want us to join them, so we will have the same rights. If we don't do things their way, and live their life, we have no rights.

even though members of the board were called "private school" members, everyone knew what they were talking about, they said it because they were orthodox, after all rose Harris was not called the "private school" board member, even though she never sent her kids or grandkids to public school- but after all rose harris was not an observent orthodox jew, so there was no reason to label her.Same goes for Janet Rose the board member from inwood. Her kids went to parochial school and she was not labeled the "private school" board member, but then again janet Rose was not an observant orthodox Jew either.

obviously pam does not have a problem being on the board if you do not have kids in the system because she has no kids in the system, she only has a problem if orthodox members who have no kids in the system are on the board.

I don't think Pam, or others have a problem with a private school parent being on the board. The issue is that out of 7 board members, 5 are sticking together like glue and, while one of them is a public school parent, he votes with the others when it comes time to vote on emergency measures, propositions, trying to sneak in a referendum (remember January, 2007?), not putting up a capital plan for the proceeds of the sale of # 1, pre-k busing without the use of matrons, corner pick-ups only for the pre-k kids, no 3 year olds on the bus (they need car seats so the district won't transport them), etc.

I think the board can do better. I think the lines of communication have to be strengthened and no screaming matches at board meetings (that goes for ALL the candidates and sitting trustees) and I think there needs to be a community advisory committee that meets with the community and presents issues directly to the board, rather than the way it is handled now. I also think there needs to be a private school parent at the CSE meetings as an advocate as well.

And before you all blast me, I am NOT from ALPS, I am not a teacher (or a relative of one) and I've had children both in private school and the public school - and children with experience with the CSE process.

cse definately needs help, are you aware that it stems from administration, not the board, the same administration that was given an 11th hour extention by the public school parents last year? I don't remember in over 20 years hearing any board discuss cse particulars or revamping but you are right it needs doing.

HOW was she treated exactly? She got called to the table for her outright blatent anti-semetic and biased campaign?

I'm just wondering since she and her husband own so many coops in town, if they have an interest in the coops proposed to be built on the No. 1 school property that was sworn NEVER, EVER to be sold to a YESHIVA no matter what. Even though the Yeshiva's are expanding and that school was closed, even though it was already zoned for a school and it is very difficult to get zoning for a school. Where are the private religious school kids supposed to be placed? Yeah, I know your answer, we should move out of the neighborhood. Well guess what we are not moving, we will just have to work within the system and figure out a way to get around the STUMBLING BLOCKS.

Yup, to an orthodox developer for an unheard of price. What are the chances of the sale actually going through. How many of you live on Central ave, or right off of. How many more families do you actually think the water and sewer systems can support. How many more cars do you think Central Ave will allow?

How do the rest of you feel about another 150 apartments, 300 cars and at least 300 people living in that spot? I am going to oppose any variance, any option and any issue or questions that comes up on that property.

I just saw the News12 report about the school board elections tonight (Monday). Asher Mansdorf is a liar. Many people condemned the death threats that were given. I guess Asher did not want to admit to that so the elections go the way he wants. In the newspapers, during a school board meeting at all around town, the thought of death threats against school board members were condemned - by both public school and private school parents. This is the first time I can assuredly say that Asher Mandsdorf is a liar.

What a shame. The 11th hour spit in my face. But you know what? I continue to vote for the best candidate - whether Orthodox or not - tomorrow. Asher once had my support, and trusted him. He is a bold-face liar.

It's so ironic to hear the shouts of "anti-semitism" coming from the orthodox community over the word "orthodox." Where were the cries of anti-semitism from the private school board members and the orthodox community when the Lawrence school board gave tenure to a teacher who was proven to have made anti-semitic remarks? No cries of anti-semitism then; just a $40,000 "scholar/athlete" award to a board member's son. hm......

I just saw the News12 report about the school board elections tonight (Monday). Asher Mansdorf is a liar. Many people condemned the death threats that were given."

That is such baloney. I think you should do a search of Om's blog from around that time. All I see is a lot of people saying that the Orthodox put out the death threat themselves to gain sympathy.

They didn't condemn the death threats properly, just like we didn't see a condemnation from the ALPS candidates about the ads that every local elected official clearly saw as bigoted. Keep spinning. But it's too late to undo the damage from the disgusting ads ALPS put out.

Another thing? Asher Mansdorf isn't a candidate. So he has nothing to do with the election.

The ALPS have been condemned repeatedly for those words. I do not belong to ALPS because of Bruce Sher and the LTA.

No, Asher isn't a candidate, but we know who he is backing. If you don't think he has anything to do with the election, think again. In all the years he has been on the school board, he has said more in the last three weeks than ever before.

The ALPS have been condemned repeatedly for those words. I do not belong to ALPS because of Bruce Sher and the LTA.

Where? Who condemned the words? When? In what newspaper? Which parents got up to the mike at school board meetings to condemn the threats and the subsequent idiocy that came from ALPS? You can't just say it to your wife over dinner and expect everyone to know you are condemning them.

these ads were rediculious. OM is right, the Herald expressed themselves very well, although it would have been better had it been in the same edition as the ads. well hey- i am sure the ads didnt strike ANYONE as a surprise

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